Idaho late season hunt

[Gibby97]

Looking at buying OTC rifle to hunt late Nov / early Dec just starting to research units/areas to hunt. How much snow is typically on the ground that time of year and how hard is it to get around? I realize this may vary by area and I'm looking at units along MT border and to the west.

much appreciated.

 

[Idhikker]

General seasons normally end the first week of November. There's a late archery that's really difficult over there, as well as some cow hunts.

 

[Ryan2782]

Most area's for December are muzzleloader cow hunts on OTC for Idaho. What area/tag are you interested in?

https://idfg.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/seasons-rules-big-game-elk-2017-2018.pdf

 

[Gibby97]

We haven't got far enough to figure out which unit but are looking at a OTC cow tag worse case and will put in for a draw as well. We are looking to find a good quality hunt since it's our first time to Idaho. Currently I'm looking at the Lemhi and Beaverhead areas. Any thoughts?

 

[Irrelevant]

In the beaverhead it could be very cold and very snowy by then. The area we hit up in that region gets snow in Sept and when I checked last year during that late archery is was a high of 8 with several feet of snow.

 

[Southern Elk]

In the beaverhead it could be very cold and very snowy by then. The area we hit up in that region gets snow in Sept and when I checked last year during that late archery is was a high of 8 with several feet of snow.

I agree with this. IF you could even get into there (the divide on the MT/ID border), the elk are already on the winter range by late November, early December.

 

[Ryan2782]

Hard to say on snow level there. It seems like it's always different year to year. It shows up, just varies when. For those late cows in December, look around the farm lands and concentrate there or above. Hopefully you can find some feeding those areas and heading up to bed when the sun is coming up. I've hunted both areas for archery in the past and plenty of elk around. There is a rifle tag for cows early in the year near cultivated fields. Something to look at for future hunts if you can meet a rancher that would let you hunt or access through his property.